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April 17 – The country’s first Dung Quat Oil Refinery is scheduled to operational by February 2009 according to a senior official from Viet Nam Oil and Gas Corp (PetroVietnam). The refinery will also produce petro-chemical products including fuels and liquidified gas.

Made at a cost of US$2.5 billion, the refinery will deliver 6.5 million tons of products annually by the end of the second quarter. This will answer 50 percent of domestic fuel demand.

April 18 – One sure indicator of a country’s overall development is its means and modes of transport. The following three news items reveal that Vietnam is gradually growing apart from the bicycle and moped, for better or worse, but certainly for an increasingly prosperous and industrialized nation.

April 14 – Two delayed major utility projects set to augment the country’s chronic blackouts have been given a May 1 deadline by Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai. The Nhon Trach 1 and Ca Mau 2 gas-fueled projects remain unfinished and are three to eight months behind.

The 450-megawatt Nhon Trach 1 and 750-megawatt Ca Mau 2 projects are expected to supply power when the dry season starts from November to June.

According to Thanh Nien News, Hai said that should there be any more delays, the leaders of state-owned companies involved in the projects will be investigated. He added that work on other delayed power projects should also be sped up.

HCMC, April 14 – Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIP) leaders met with Ho Chi Minh City businesses last week to evaluate economic opportunities and express their strong desire to help the French invest in Vietnam, as well as to boost bilateral trade between France and Vietnam.

Acknowledging that France already had a strong business presence in Vietnam, Christian Pepineau, the VP of CCIP, stated that Vietnam had some of the best long-term prospects for medium-sized French companies, offering low-priced but high quality human and natural resources, and a large market of over 80 million people.

April 10 – The Vietnam index, among the world’s worst performing, is nonetheless showing some encouraging signs for both the short and long term.

Although it has lost approximately 40 percent of its value so far this year, as the central bank continues to tighten money supply in a bid to curb inflation, Vietnam’s stock market climbed almost two percent yesterday. The rise resulted from a regulation increasing the intraday share trading band to two percent.

That increase should improve liquidity which dried up after the band was reduced to one percent ten days ago, from a previous five percent limit. This rise is seen as a sign of increased confidence in Vietnam’s ability to deal with the symptoms of its explosive growth.

HANOI, April 2 – Hanoi will be doubled in population and tripled in size in the next 12 years, by decree of the People’s Council.

The resolution still awaits approval in the National Assembly. If approved, Ha Tay province, Me Linh district and a sizable portion of Luong Son District will merge with the capital, an expansion that will boost its size to nearly 3,500 square kilometer, and swell its population to some six million people.

April 2 – FDI worth US$1.85 billion was injected into Ho Chi Minh in 2008’s first quarter, with almost 98 percent of it going to real estate and consultancy. This represents a 78 percent gain in capital compared with the same period in 2007.

With stocks in the doldrums and volatile gold prices, many investors saw property development as their best bet early this year. Industrial production, transport, warehouses, and telecom also remain popular projects.

Officials from both Ha Tinh’s People’s Committee and the Vung Ang Economic Area Board met with businessmen in Ho Chi Minh City last Saturday to attract investment.

Two breakthroughs are expected to lure heavy investment to the area: an administrative resolution that will grant certificates five days after investors apply for projects there, and the ability to receive 150,000-ton ships in its deepwater seaport.